Christmas

The last leg of our Christmas Block Leave journey was Christmas in Richmond. We took the train down to Richmond from Philly. This was Danielle's first train ride and over all she wasn't impressed. It was disappointed that for the first part of the train ride the train was so packed that she and Mat didn't get to sit together. Also they had to move their things half way through the trip. Danielle said she would give it another try but, next time if it's not better we're flying.

After we arrived in Richmond we spent the first night with Danielle's parents, then stayed in a hotel for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Night, then the rest with Mat's mom. Lots of running around but, tons and tons of fun.

Here are some photos from the last leg...

Christmas at Danielle's parents house. Linda, Mat, Caleb and Robert.

Caleb bought Danielle a pair of moccosins but didn't get Mat anything. That's ok, we wear the same size shoes, we'll just share.

At Mat's dad's house he gave us caracitures of each of our spouses from 1994. Our's hangs proudly in our hallway.

At Saxon Shoes in Richmond (Danielle's favorite shoe store), there is a child sized door into the Children's section. Mat's brother Stephen felt like a kid again haha.

Pennsylvania

Part 2 of our trip started with a plane ride to PA. As fun as the Philly airport is (NOT) we were very glad for Mat's cousin Megan to come pick us up. We didn't get much time with the PA Porters but as always they are tons of fun and love letting us roam around PA.

Here are just a few pictures from this leg of our journey...

The 4 stories tall Macy's light show.

Dicken's Village. A self guided walking tour of the Charles Dicken's book.

Mat having an intimate chat with a very quiet man.

Mat in front of the Liberty Bell

Danielle in front of the Liberty Bell

Mat's cousin William as the Gingerbread Man in the school Christmas Padgent.

Last leg of our journey to come...

FINALLY Back in Action

Well finally! We got back Danielle's laptop from Geek Squad and have spent this afternoon working on getting the Block Leave pictures uploaded.

So here goes nothing... Beginning with the cruise Dec. 15, 2008:

Our cruise ship, the Carnival Inspiration

Our Room U179

Lunch on the balcony of the ship

Smoochin on the deck

Pictures in the Bar with the ships captain

Me on the ATV

Mat on the ATV in Cozumel's jungle

Mat after the ride

One of the many towel animals that were left in our room by our room steward.

The Comedian that did the midnight comedy show. The other Danielle that we got to be friends with. Her and her boyfriend Ben.

From the pool in Cozumel.

Pool side in Mexico

Santa at the bar in Cozumel, smokin and drinking.

More photos to come later in the week.

Wonderful Winter

The laptops are both in the shop as of recently so I haven't been able to update in a while because of that. Work is slow, so I figure I'd post a little update. Things are going well with Mat and I. Actually "well" would be a gross understatement. We are doing fantastic. Our gorgeous new bedroom set arrived yesterday and I'm in love. The bed is perfect, neither one of us has ever been "shopping" for a matress just for us, so that was fun. I had a horribly hard time getting out of bed this morning.

We also got a new TV for Christmas so we had a great time setting that up last night too.

The weather is nice. I kinda wish it would snow some since we missed out on a little bit while we were gone.

All in all things are going great here out in the Midwest. Work is very slow, but it's given me the opportunity to try and finish reading "The Historian". Which by the way I'm still trying to read, for the past 2 months.

Pictures will be posted as soon as we can get the laptops running again.

Home Again, Home Again

After a wonderful block leave Mat and I have returned home to Ft. Riley safely. After a few delays in our travels we got back home at around 2am Monday morning.

I haven't had time yet to go through and download and edit the photos but as soon as I get to that I will get them up here.

The cruise was absolutely fantastic, Mat and I had more fun that we could have imagined. Cozumel was wonderful and warm. Grand Cayman was fun and interesting. Mat and I went SCUBA diving for the first time there. The water was warm and crystal clear. In Cozumel Mat and I went ATV riding through the Jungle. We got to stop and visit some of the Myan ruins while on our journey.

Visiting family is always a treat. I know that Mat and I always want to stay longer. It was fantastic seeing everyone and we can't wait to see everyone again.

Block Leave

Just wanted to blog a little before we leave on our vacation. On Monday we leave for an exciting trip. We are going on a cruise from Tampa, FL to Grand Cayman Islands and Cozumel Mexico. Mat and I are thrilled to be able to go. We didn't really ever get a real honeymoon so we're excited about this. After we get back from that we head up to PA and visit some of Mat's family then back down to Virginia to visit with family there and do Christmas.

Mat and I mailed off our packages to various locations around the US yesterday so now that that's taken care of and the packing of the suit cases is done we're ready to open the gifts we have for each other and we'll be ready to head out of town.

Please pray that our flights are on time and we make it to the boat without incident on Monday. Also pray that there are no pirates planning to hijack our boat.

Trust me, there will be many many pictures following our trip.

If we don't get to talk to you before Christmas, please have a safe and blessed Christmas. Remember to celebrate it not for the presents and material things, celebrate it for the birth of Christ, the ultimate gift. Merry Christmas.

Our First Christmas Season

As the Advent season begins, Mat and I have been busy getting our first Christmas season ready. Tuesday night we went and bought a Christmas tree and tried to set it up. It had to be tied to the curtain rod for a while b/c it wouldn't stay up straight. Wed. we went and bought a new stand and now it's nice and straight. We have decorated the outside of the house with a beautiful wreath (from OCSC) and icecycle lights. Poodle is reacting just like we thought she would...by eating the tree.

Tomorrow night we are headed out to an event called "Bethlehem Revisited". It's an outdoor walking tour of the nativity. I'm really excited about it. That is something I've always wanted to do.

We also hung a picture in our living room above the couch. Mat picked it out. I really like it.

We still have some things to get done like cards, wrapping gifts and packing for our cruise. I'm sure the next week will fly by and hopefully everything will get done.